Local

Photo: KICD AM

Neglegent Nurse Vet Death

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Ryan Long

Neglegent Nurse Vet Death

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Records show a 65-year-old Army veteran from Spirit Lake died in March at a Veterans Affairs hospital after a nurse shut off monitoring alarms that would have signaled he needed care.

Greg Smith, a human resources specialist for the Veterans Affairs Central Iowa Health Care System, testified at a recent public hearing about registered nurse Bernard Nesbit. Nesbit was subsequently fired for the incident and was seeking unemployment benefits. They were later denied.

Nesbit testified that he turned off several alarms because they went off even if patients weren’t in distress. Michael Deal died after oxygen levels in his blood dropped.

Smith says the hospital plans to report Nesbit’s actions to the state licensing board for nurses.